The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court’s summary judgment upholding the constitutionality of University of Texas’ race-conscious admissions policies, Politico reported. The Supreme Court sent the affirmative action case Fisher v. University of Texas back to the appellate court last year to take a closer look at whether the university’s consideration of race was narrowly tailored and whether the university exhausted other race-neutral alternatives.

The case centered around the complaints of Abigail Fisher, a white plaintiff who sued the University of Texas after she was denied admission to the school. She argued that the university’s admissions policies discriminated against her as a white applicant.

“This decision should stand as a declaration of the ongoing importance and legality of affirmative action efforts that holistically evaluate applicants for admission in higher education and for the principle of stare decisis,” Sherrilyn Ifill, president of the NAACP-LDF, said in a statement.

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